8/01/04 Report

[Bill2]

Well...fishing stunk Friday through Sunday.

I'm sure the weather pattern and full moon contributed but this is our worse week-end in months. The crappie were very deep over deep water and no matter what we tried they wouldn't hit. Managed one keeper fishing for bass. Figures. We did catch some largemouth on curly's while trolling but no crappies. Oh and my brother caught bluegills using a spinner while I caught none without a spinner. Maybe next week.

Bill

[Roberta]

We got out later yesterday than planned. High point of the day was when I hammered a nice largemouth on my third or fourth cast with a big unweighted tube. We caught quite a few bluegills, mostly on assorted grubs, crickets and grasshoppers. We tried and tried to get crappie where we saw them following shad deep in the channels, but no luck. I did pick up a dink on a pink/chart/white tube and Doug caught a smallish channel cat while we trolled, trying for crappie. Water temps were in the low 80's. - Roberta

[Bill2]

You know it just didn't (and doesn't) make sense to me. I use to bass fish all the time, do it now just for fun once in awhile, but you could usually get them to bite. These crappies were complete lockjaw. Like you stated Roberta we could catch bluegill with live bait but no crappies.

Guess that's what makes this fun :rolleyes:...getting them to bite.

Bill

[Bill2]

Oh yeah. Congrats on the largemouth. All ours were around 1.5 pounds.

Water temperature was 76 degrees. And most of the crappie we marked were with bait fish.

Bill

[Roberta]

I'm with you - I don't get it. In the past, when we've found them following shad in the channels, we could drift or anchor and throw tubes at them and do pretty well, especially if we tipped with minnows. We would cast, let it sink and then do a slow retrieve. I also like to use a lateral sweep which usually produces, but not this year. We're going to try hair jigs in a shad pattern thsi week and see if that makes a difference.

Shoulda quit after the bass, because it sure went downhill from there! LOL. Good luck this w/e. - Roberta

[Moose1am]

I have this theory that when crappie have a full stomach they will not bite. During this part of summer life is in full swing in our lakes. There are abundant prey species for the crappie to feed upon and I believe that the crappie are so full of food that they just want to take a nap. Have you ever eaten a big Thanksgiving dinnner and then went to take a nap in the lazyboy chair and or watch a football game on TV? The last then you want at that time is another Turkey Sandwitch? Right?

I have drawn these conclusions by observing my captive crappie in my aquarium for the last 10 months. I have been feeding them live minnows over this time period and watching if and how they eat. When these crappie go for two or three days without food they become extreemly agressive no matter what the weather is like outside. They will feed as soon as new minnows are put in the tank. The only thing that effects their feeding is the aquarium lights. If the lights in the tanks aquarium lid are turned on the crappie are slow to feed even when they are hungry. But once the aquarium overhead lights are turned off the crappie start feeding. It's like throwing the feeding switch on and off. I am convinced that light is one of the main keys to fishing for crappie. Bright bluebird days with no clouds in the sky at the height of summer means that light energy is highest and penetrates deepest into the water at high noon when the angle of the sun is directly overhead as compared to during the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere. Light energy definately effects where the crappie will be an if they are going to feed. Crappie have huge eyes and no way to shut down the pupils to limit how much light can enter the crappie's eyes. They also have no eyelids to close when they sleep. My captive crappie are active during the night time. I have one night light in the window of the aquarium room that simulates the moonlight and I can watch the crappie after my eyes adapt to the low light at night in the crappie's room.

Fish that are suspended out over open deep water are not as active as those that come up to the top of the drop off's shelf and are actively feeding during the morning hours and as the sun goes down. They are just suspended and are more likely sleeping off a good meal.

You talked about seeing bait fish so I must assume that either the bait fish was at the surface or that the water is either extreemly clear or that you are seeing these bait fish in the sonar graph screen. Either way it tells me and should tell you all that the crappie have ample supply of food at this time of the summer. It's what the In-Fisherman's Crappie Wisdom book refers to a Summer Period the time of plenty. Life is in full swing and why would the crappie want a dead minnow when there are so many live ones right in front of their noses?

I have been catching bass where I put my crappie attractors. I read an article in the In-Fisherman's August/Sept issue that the bass when feeding scare off the crappie. The crappies that were once on the edge of the creek channel or the drop off are moving to the flats when the bass come to the drop offs to actively feed. This could be true as a largemouth bass could easily consume a small crappie in one gulp.

Recently (July 2004) guys have been catching the biggest crappies on bass crankbaits. I was given a 1.3lb White Crappie that was 14" long which was caught on a Mann's minus one crank bait near a dropoff. The fisherman that caught the crappie was fishing for LM Bass. Earlier in July I had another 13" long White Crappie given to me by another bass fisherman. Seems that the larger crappie want a faster moving bait and something big enough to fill them up in one bite.

So here is the key. Often bass with strike at a lure if the lure moves fast at them. It's a reactionary type strike. I am wondering if big huge slabs do this also? Try trolling a crank bait for these crappie and see if you can get them to stike your crankbaits. You may have to let out 100ft of line and vary the line diameter (smaller diameter lines will make the same bait dive deeper than a larger diameter line will) and the boat speed to get the baits in the strike zone at the right speed. I wonder how fast a mann's minus one crank bait travels when being retrieved by the modern bait casting reels that have a 6 to 1 gear ratio? I would try to match the boat speed to the speed of that bait being pulled back to the boat by those modern bait casting reels with the high gear ratios.

Normally I troll slowly with jigs while the jig hangs vertically in the water as in the drop shot method. Only I use the Min_Kota on slow speed (a 1 setting on a scale of 1 to 5).

[Roberta]

Moose, I agree that the ones that have gorged aren't going to go after a lure. We're trying to entice the crappies that are moving in on the shad. The shad are just under the surface to about 4 feet deep. The deeper ones show up on the graph as something akin to a swarm of bees. You'll see the larger fish just under or just behind them.

What we try to do is troll or cast right through those schools with something that mimics the shad when they're in this summer pattern.. It's a percentage game, I know, but previous years, it's been fairly successful. As far as size goes, I've caught my largest crappie on anything from a 2" tube tipped with a minnow (total length off 3.5 -4") to a 1" grub tipped with a waxie.

Speed is, IMO, less of an issue with crappie , as long as it's not too fast. Some days, it doesn't seem to matter how fast you crank a bait for bass, but then, they will eagerly chase a smal lbluegill or crappie that's skipping across the surface in an attempt to escape.

They may have small brains, but they still present a challenge some days, no? - Roberta

[Bill2]

It's exactly what Roberta states...like a swarm of bees.

Get this though the only keeper was an 11 incher right on the bank. And no more would hit and we tried hard to duplicate that cast. The rest of the time was spent trolling through the marked fish trying to hit them on the head, I guess, as that's the only way I figured we would get one. :rolleyes:

Bill

[Tim The Lippa Rippa Mon]

Here is one thing to try for this typical time of year's negative feeding patterns: Get a Swimming jig, and tip it with a minnow, cast it in the middle of the bait fish, and let it sink. The right jig pivots side to side, as well as back and forth. This mimics wounded, or dying baitfish. The minnow is very important for this to work well. The results of trying this will probably surprise you guys.

I believe crankbaits(floaters with fat bodies) are a good Summer strategy too. Troll them around 12-15' deep at 1-2 mph should bring some scales to the fillet board. Try banging the tips of points and creek channel edges for the best feeders. Don't forget to tie a micro jig to the back hooks of the cranks- those catch a lot of fish too.

<,"}/>{ Rippa

[Bill2]

I believe crankbaits(floaters with fat bodies) are a good Summer strategy too. Troll them around 12-15' deep at 1-2 mph

Tim: What would be the best way to troll the cranks at that depth? I tried trolling cranks before and haven't had much luck controlling them at depths. And thanks for the minnow tip...might give that a try this week-end. Hopefully they will be back on the summer pattern and I won't need to do either as my trolling method has worked up until this last week-end.

Bill